Want to make a simple plumbers pipe floating shelf?  This step by step tutorial will show you how!

I love the look of plumbers pipe and it fits my Farmhouse Industrial style.  A friend asked me to build her some shelving for her hubby’s office, so I decided I had better practice on my kitchen first!  Here is how to build a plumbers pipe floating shelf. But first, here is some tips on plumbers pipe:

• Plumbers Pipe is so easy to use
• Plumbers Pipe is messy
• Plumbers Pipe is expensive
• Plumbers Pipe looks amazing

You have to decide if the messy/expensive part is worth to ease/look.  For me, it totally is.  I love it that much!

Note:  Almost 3 years after writing this post, a company came out with decorative plumbers pipe that is not greasy.  Here is the link to check out Furniture Pipeline and what they offer!

You can watch the 60 second DIY video tutorial on the shelf I made at the end of this post as well!

Ready to build your own?  If you want to build a plumbers pipe shelf, here is what you will need (keeping in mind that you might need to change the size accordingly to fit your needs.)

Plumbers Pipe Self Supplies

• 6  3/4 inch flanges 
• 6  3/4 inch end caps
• 6  3/4 inch pipes – 12 inches long
• 12 foot long wood board – 1 1/2 inch thick by 12 inch deep
• Choice of stain (I used Minwax Provincial)
• Staining brush and cloth
• 6 U shaped clamps (they are tricky to find, look in the plastic plumbing isle at The Home Depot or search Saddle Clamp on Amazon)
• Washers (optional)
• 48 drywall screws (anchors as well if you do not drill into a stud)
• 12 small wood screws for clamps
• Acetone and cotton balls

Tools

• Hand Saw
• Hand Drill
• Sander
• Stud Finder
• Level

Step One: Cleaning The Pipe

This is the worst part of plumbers pipe.  I tried many different ways to clean my pipe and wrote a whole post about it to help you.  To read more on cleaning your plumbers pipe, read my post here.

 

Step Two:  Measure, Cut, and Sand your wood shelves

I wanted my shelves to be 3 feet long.  So purchasing a 12 foot board was perfect for me.  If you do not want to cut it yourself, you can ask The Home Depot to do it for you.  Nervous to ask?  Read my post here about using The Cutting Center at The Home Depot.  It will give you all the low down on the process – it’s easy!

Home Depot Cutting Center

Home Depot Cutting Center

Once you have them all cut, give them a good sanding so they are nice and smooth.

Step Three: Stain Your Wood

Pick your stain and stir well.  You do not want to shake your stain because it produces bubbles.  So be patient and stir!  Once it is all mixed you can start with your first layer of stain.  Use your brush and apply evenly.  Wipe off with a paper towel or rag.  Let dry according to directions and repeat to achieve desired color.

Step Four:  Install Flanges

First you will mount your flanges.  Decide how far apart you would like them, and try your best to measure them into a stud.  This is done by using a stud finder and measuring where they are all.

If you do not have the color of screws that match your flange, you can write over them with a black sharpie pen!

Step Five:  Attach your pipe and end cap

Attach these two pieces to each flange.  Screw on tight.

Step Six:  Add each Shelf

You will lay wood on each shelf to make sure it sits even.  Plumbers pipe isn’t almost a perfect fit and some you can be off a little bit with your shelving and will need to make adjustments.  If they sag downward, add 1-3 washers under the 6 o’clock position screw. If the board goes up too high one side, add 1-3 washers under the 12 o’clock position screw.

Step Seven: Add Braces

You will need braces to make sure the shelf is stable.  We spray painted our braces black so they wouldn’t be noticed.

We then mounted them onto the back area of each pipe and drilled them into place.

Then you are finally free to decorate how you would like too.  And if you don’t want to build one but still want the shelf?  I found some good deals for you here:

You are all done!  Building plumper’s pipe shelving is so easy, don’t you agree? Let me know how yours turns out – I would love to see it.  Happy Building!